


Recovery

by HellishSam



Category: Star Stable
Genre: Angst, Forgiveness, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 09:10:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16930449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellishSam/pseuds/HellishSam
Summary: In which Daine finds it hard to forgive both his boyfriend and close friend. A sequel to Burgie's 'Mine' and 'Irresistible'TW for mentions of heavy drinking and a bit of verbal fighting





	Recovery

He was mad at her and there was no hiding it. Daine knew Ariana got around a lot and that was just her thing. Though it hurt a lot more than a thousand knives in his heart to think about it. Even as he slept next to his boyfriend. It was the third day after Ydris had come to see him and apologize. Biting back the taste of jealousy, Daine got out of bed, his head still pounding from… whatever how much time he spent drinking. Apparently it had been maybe a week and a half.

Daine stumbled into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He looked like absolute shit. Dark bags from drinking and restless nights sat under his eyes. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot to hell, dark facial hair dotted around his mouth and up to the sides of his face. It would have looked handsome if it weren’t for looking like a depressed alcoholic. And not to mention the bandaged finger tips from playing till his fingers bled. Though he couldn’t look long before he had to rush to the toilet and vomit more remains of alcohol and other shitty foods he’d eaten.

He gripped the edge of the counter and pulled himself back up with a groan as he flushed the vomit down. Daine filled the glass on the counter with water and spit it back into the sink, down the drain. He stared at the crappy haircut he had given himself over that week. There were split ends and a couple areas where it was longer than others. Maybe Willow or Louisa could clean it up. He didn’t want Ydris to touch his hair yet. It made him feel… owned. And he wasn’t owned by someone, no, that wasn’t a relationship. Daine stared down at the sink for a while, breathing a little heavy, still trying to catch his breath after vomiting his guts up.

“My phoenix, are you alright?” Daine’s gaze shot up, looking in the mirror, looking at Ydris who stood next to him in the reflection. There was obvious concern on his face but Daine didn’t care. He sighed, dragging a hand down his face, feeling the scruff that he had grown and still needed to shave. “I’m fine, Ydris.” He said, his voice still raspy and a bit gone. 

Daine watch as Ydris went to stroke his hair or grab a lock of it. In a quick reflex, his grabbed his boyfriend’s wrist, hearing him gasp in pain. With the quick motion, Daine’s eyes had turned that terrible sunset color and his pupils were now in slits. He looked Ydris in the eye and glared. “Don’t touch it.” He growled, throwing his wrist and walking out of the bathroom.

Ydris flexed his hand, rubbing the wrist with his other hand, and watched as Daine went into the living room. Guilt was heavy in his chest. He wanted to say something but what could a cheating man just tell the one he loved? That he was sorry a million times over? Apparently showing up in the rain wasn’t enough for Daine. Though, thinking about it, Ydris had put him through a lot. And knowing the vague mentions of his friend before arriving to Jorvik, Daine lived a hard life. And he only managed to make it worse. Daine had seemed so happy the morning after when he had cooked breakfast. Though as that day went on, he only seemed to be more and more depressed. Maybe it was the human body’s way of reacting towards recovering from alcoholism. Letting out a sigh, he followed Daine, having no idea what to say.

Daine was sitting on the couch, a blanket draped over his legs, he was staring at nothing. Just breathing slowly. Ydris sat next to him, still feeling a bit odd in such… human clothes. Usually he went to bed with nothing on and kept a suit on. Or he wore some kind of tighter clothes to bed. Nothing quite as soft or loose as what normals called ‘pajamas’. Though, they were comfy. Ydris was snapped out of his thoughts when Daine finally spoke up. It was soft and quiet, but before, you could hear someone drop a pin from behind a closed door all the way across the house.

“What made them all so much better than me? What… made her better than me?” He asked, a stray tear slipping down his cheek as he still stared at nothing. “And be honest, you prick.”

Ydris tightened his lips at that. The hurt in Daine’s voice pained him so much, making that guilt just seap deeper and deeper. He knew exactly who he was talking about. The Lionheart. The one who made him feel like a man. She had such spirit. He hated to admit how much he loved her figure, her blonde hair, the way she protested against him taking charge. But Daine was something special, too. He could see the light within him with an energy unknown to the blind eye. Something simply beautiful. He remembered when Daine was first so afraid to show his eyes. And those eyes still made him freeze up to this day.

“There was noth-”  
‘Stop. Stop right there.” Daine interrupted, turning to look at him, his already bloodshot eyes getting puffy with tears. “She… she had something. And you can’t deny it.” His voice was cracking now. Ydris’ heart was breaking all over again.

Ydris looked away at the floor, looking at where the floorboards met. “She… she had a body that made me…” The showman was lost for words. He sounded so idiotic. Even without looking, he could feel Daine’s gaze on him. It hurt like hell itself.

“Ah, so that’s what you look for, a body. What? Did she make you feel alive? Did they all make you feel alive?!” Daine was getting worked up now, rising from his seat, glaring down at Ydris. He could feel fire flee to his hands, ready to ignite at any moment. Ydris looked at him and stood up slowly. 

“No, they didn’t, Daine. You don-”  
“YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT I DON’T UNDERSTAND! His voice was straining at this point, “ALL I DID WAS LOVE YOU! And… and...” His voice was clearly going out again, it couldn’t take the stress. His shoulders shook as he started crying again. It was the only way he could express how much his heart ached at the thought of so many others climbing into that same bed. Kissing his boyfriend with just as equal amounts of passion. The way he imagined Ydris’ hands roaming their body, it made him want to be sick all over again.

The heat that was in his hands died out, he was so tired again already. Daine didn’t protest when Ydris pulled him into hug him. He clung to him for dear life, sobbing even more. The magician kissed his boyfriend’s head, stroking his now short hair. “I’m sorry, Daniel.” And now his voice was breaking with emotion, too.

“She was my friend, I trusted her. I trusted you and… now this happens?” Ydris couldn’t even imagine what his phoenix felt. He was just betrayed by him and by a dear friend. Ydris knew Ariana had been close to Daine and yet it happened not once, but twice. Maybe even more, he couldn’t remember the number. Just another pain he felt in his heart. How could he be so stupid?

Daine stared up at him. Ydris was crying. He was showing him emotion. Ydris really did love him and he knew what he did. Daine didn’t need to remind him over and over again. 

“I’m sorry for yelling…” He mumbled into his boyfriend’s sweet smelling shirt.

“It’s alright, my phoenix. It would be expected of you.” Ydris said, looking down as Daine pressed his head into his shirt. He was sure Daine could probably hear his heart thumping with guilt and love at the same time. Daine almost seemed fascinated with the sound of his beating heart, like he was scared the beat would just stop or go out suddenly. Though, maybe there was a meaning behind that too.

The two stood there for a while, just embracing each other, and Daine listening to the thump of his boyfriend’s heart. Finally, Daine broke the silence again. “I’m going to take a shower, I look like shit.”

“You look fine no matter what, my phoenix. You will forever be the burning light in my life.” That struck something inside Daine, he finally looked up at him and Ydris used a thumb to wipe away one of the fallen tears. Daine leaned up and gave his boyfriend a kiss. Despite Daine having chapped lips, his kiss was warm. “I will fix this, mon amour, no matter what I have to do.” He looked down at Daine again after pulling away from the kiss. He really did mean what he said. His phoenix didn’t deserve to feel that way from his doing.

Later that day was much better, Daine still hadn’t cleaned himself up well, but he did take a shower to wash away the redness of the tears. Though, it did give him a bit of an idea of sorts. He didn’t like it much, but it was worth a shot.

After the shower, Daine was curled up in a chair, looking at his phone, his eyes staring at the number that burned a hole in his chest. He had given Ariana the joking nickname of “Hoe”, but it fit. Taking a deep breath, he tapped the number with his thumb and began to slowly type out a message. Having dyslexia was a bitch. He could read decently and somewhat type decently, it just took a long time for him to get a message out. Anxiety gripped at his heart while writing everything, threatening to crush his heart.

He stared at his phone, every minute felt like an hour until he saw the dots that indicated she was typing back. She agreed to meet up with him later that day. Daine took a deep breath and breathed out. This was going to be fine. He wouldn’t get mad at her. But how could he not? She knew about how he felt for the magician. Though maybe she didn’t. Daine had been timid about saying anything due to being teased. He sighed, he needed to stop worrying so much.

When he left, all he told Ydris was that he was going for a long ride. He really didn’t know when he’d be back. Daine walked to the barn and greeted his Cloud. He felt terrible for striking him while he was under an influence, Cloud didn’t deserve that type of treatment. Though his boy seemed to forgive him for his actions. Daine only put his bridle on and with ease, hoisted himself onto the greying horse’s back. He nudged him a little and got going to New Hillcrest.

He finally made his way to Stablebucks near Jarlaheim. Daine kept his hood up and sunglasses on as he ordered a coffee. Cloud was tied to a post that was a little bit aways, still in Daine’s field of view. He looked through his phone, his glasses still on to hide how terrible he looked as he sat down. Daine tried to ignore the growing panic in his chest while waiting for his blonde friend to get here. Or he thought she was his friend. He didn’t know what to call her anymore.

It wasn’t long before he heard hoofbeats approaching. He looked up from his phone, taking a sip of his coffee. Ariana looked like her usual self. Why did he expect different? Maybe she just was incapable of feeling guilt. Though Daine pushed that thought to the back of his head. He didn’t need his fire abilities to make his coffee any hotter.

After grabbing herself a ftink and glancing over at the hooded young man, Ariana walked over and awkwardly sat down. “Hey, Daine… how are you?” She avoided his gaze through the brown sunglasses, her voice unusually quiet. Daine sighed, taking the glasses off, revealing his bloodshot eyes. He also slowly put his hood down, revealing that his once long hair was now gone. “Dunno, how do I look?”

There was a look of shock, but she didn’t say anything, she only looked down and away. “I… I didn’t mean what I did, Daine.” That fire was beginning to build up in Daine again as he folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Really now? You just… ruin your friend’s relationship for fun? Do you have any fucking idea what I went through?” Ariana shook her head slowly. Looking at her up closely, Daine noticed she wasn’t wearing her makeup. Her hair was unkempt under her hat. Her eyes were red around the edges, like she’d been crying. Like she’d been through hell too…

Daine sighed, biting his lip as he looked to the side, bringing a hand up to scratch at the hair on his face. Maybe he was just a little too hard on her to begin with. “Look, I’m… I’m not that mad at you. If anything, I’m more mad at Ydris for this.” He cleared his throat, taking another sip of his coffee to hopefully relax his throat. Ariana slowly looked up, seeming to be on the verge of tears. Daine had never seen his usually peppy friend so… sad.

“Daine, I really am sorry. This is all that’s been on my mind. After what I did I just felt… so horrible.” She looked at him with wide grey eyes. “I almost can’t live with myself. I never meant to destroy what you had with Ydris. I… I just let my own wants get the best of me. Not to mention I had no idea you two were something.” Ariana choked on her words, looking like she was going to break down. Daine felt guilt hit him like a bus. She didn’t know. And here she was, a mess, all because he was too dumb to open his mouth. He got himself out of his chair and she did the same. They met in the middle with a hug. 

Daine could feel his friend shake from soft tears. He pulled away from her as she wiped her eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Ariana, I want you to know I forgive you. You didn’t know and… that’s my fault. I should have spoken up. I was just scared of being teased because I know how everyone thinks of him.”

Ariana managed a small laugh, wiping the last of her tears away. “I’ll admit, he’s an arrogant asshole. But we’ve all seen the way he looks at you.” She’d never admit how jealous she was of the bond the two seemed to share, if only Rania would treat her the same way, but without the cheating, world ending, weird kinks, and everything else. Okay maybe she didn’t want Rania to treat her the exact same. But she’d at least kill to see Rania look at her the same way Ydris looked at Daine. Ydris seemed almost like a different man around him. His eyes didn’t roam Daine’s body like they did with other visitors, they almost seemed to gaze at something greater. Maybe it was his eyes. Daine did have really pretty ember colored eyes. Though, Rania’s glazed over blind eyes were prettier. They reminded Arina of a fogged up ocean. They were calming.

“So, are we good now?” Ariana was shaken from her thoughts at the sound of his raspy voice. For once in what seemed like forever, a smile crossed her face. 

“Only if you get that hair cleaned up and that face shaven.” 

Daine let out a chuckle, grabbing his coffee and finishing it with a shrug. “Maybe, dunno, I think it looks decent.”

“Maybe, if it was cleaned up. You look like shit.” Yep, Ariana was definitely back to her old self already. Though Daine didn’t take offense to the comment this time, he was happy he didn’t have to struggle with over-apologize. Now all he had to do was fix his trust issues, again.

Daine threw the coffee cup away and put his glasses back on. “I’ll see you around then?”

A small smirk crossed Ariana’s face as she walked back over to Lion, climbing back onto his back with ease. “See you around, Danny boy.”

Daine shook his head and swung his leg over Cloud’s back. “Bitch.” He heard a laugh as he urged Cloud into a trot, going back to his home on South Hoof, already feeling a lot better than before.


End file.
